Continuing on my travel to Japan, I am now waiting at the designated gate in Taiwan. I have about 3 hours until my next flight to Japan. I spent the time getting a bit of rest and also typed on the blog. The waiting area was quite empty when I first got here, but soon filled with people after an hour. It turns out there was a flight to Korea ahead of the one to Japan.

Outside, Taiwan was experiencing heavy rainfall. A storm was passing by apparently. After a few hours of waiting, it was announced that the flight to Japan will be delayed. Fortunately, the delay was only a little over an hour, which wasn’t significant enough to heavily alter my plans. I had contacted a friend to pick me up at Narita Airport, so I am glad it was a manageable delay.

Finally, all passengers boarded the plane. The rain was still strong and heavy outside. We spent quite some time sitting on the plane before it moved onto the runway. Along the way, I noticed a plane with Hello Kitty decorations.

At last, takeoff! The force of the engines pushing away the rain and water was quite awing to see. For the previous flight, I had chosen the window seat on the right side of the plane because the path of the flight was counter-clockwise around the Pacific Ocean. That enabled me to see Japan at night. For this flight from Taiwan, I chose the window seat on the left side of the plane, hoping to see Japan as the plane nears Tokyo.

Meal was served half an hour after takeoff. Out of the total of the 3 in-flight meals I have had during this travel to Japan, this was probably the best one. The ice cold Coke-Cola was especially refreshing.

The sky was nice and beautiful once we rised above the storm clouds. It was as if the storm was never there to begin with.

A very familiar sight.

Some time later, I begin to see land and so I snapped a few photos.

The clouds were interestingly aligned in strips across the land. I am not knowledgeable enough in geology or weather to explain why.

Very soon, there was a bigger town stretching along the coast.

On the map, this was where we were at the time, the very southern tip of Kyuushuu. Unlike the previous flight with the new in-flight info program, this plane has the older program that I have seen before.

The plane traveled over the ocean for some time afterwards, so here is a series of photos I took of the sky now and then during the flight.

Now I am starting to see land once again.

According to the map, we are south of Shizuoka. Choosing the left side for the window seat was absolutely the correct choice. As I had hoped, I was able to see the main land of Japan in all its glory during the beautiful day. What was most impressive however…

…was Mt.Fuji.

That’s right. Can you see it? The other passengers had no idea what they were missing out on.

I have never seen Mt.Fuji with my naked eyes before. These photos are nowhere near the magnificence of seeing it in person.

Directly below were some small islands that I was able to see with amazing clarity.

Beautiful.

Mt.Fuji is now quite the distance away. I am really glad that I was able to see such a sight in such great weather.

One final glance at Mt.Fuji.

After the excitement over Mt.Fuji, I relaxed in my seat and anticipated my arrival in Tokyo, taking a few photos here and there when I notice a nice scenery.

Welcome to Heaven (Japan).

Descending past the clouds, here we are, Japan. Currently right above Chiba, heading towards Narita Airport. The smaller photos with the poorer quality were taken on my phone.

When the plane rolls a bit to the side for a turn, you can get a pretty good look at the ground below. As the plane neared the ground, flying past the cities, I was able to see the plane’s shadow on the ground.

And finally, landing. The total travel time since my departure from SFO until my landing here in NRT was around 21 hours. Finally, I am here.

Exiting the plane, next was immigration where I finally obtained my own personal Residence Card. Afterwards, I proceeded to baggage claim and got all of my stuff. I checked later, but the small suitcase that ended up having to be checked in, inside was something I tried really hard to protect from getting crushed. The result, it was absolutely crushed…

Anyways, at the airport, I met up with my friend Xyrenth who has been working in Japan for 2 months. She helped me with my luggage and lead the way to her apartment in east Tokyo where I will be staying for a few days.

I guess I really am here in Japan…

That is all for my long travel to Tokyo, Japan. However, my real journey starts here. There are many things I want to accomplish here in Japan. Things that are impossible anywhere else on Earth. That is why I am here. I have no confidence that I will be able to accomplish all of my goals, but I believe it is worth trying.